As I watched Tim Cook declare we are witnessing a new era of spatial computing as he unveiled the new Apple Vision Pro, I remembered how Steve Job’s unveiling of the first iPhone in 2007 marked the beginning of the mobile internet era. It was the mobile internet that accelerated the democratization of content distribution and led to the emergence of sharing and on-demand economy platforms like Airbnb and Uber, which I explored in my June 4, 2014 article, “Social Capital: The Secret Behind Airbnb and Uber”. That article has a special place in my heart as not only did it go viral on LinkedIn but I published it on the first birthday of my baby boy, who just turned 10!
I was inspired to write the article after returning from a trip to NYC with my husband and baby where I experienced the magic of Airbnb and Uber for the first time. This is similar to the magical feeling I got after using ChatGPT for the first time in early December. As I explored in last week’s research note, GOLD!, it was OpenAI’s launch of ChatGPT on November 30 that started the generative AI gold rush which has created a new era for all the tech giants, including Apple.